President Kicks Off Campaign on Offensive

In twin speeches seen as the unofficial opening of his reelection campaign, President Bush on Thursday forcefully invoked the memory of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, warning that “America must not forget the lessons of Sept. 11.”

“After all the progress we have made against terror, there is a temptation to think the danger has passed. The danger hasn’t passed,” Bush told about 1,500 Air National Guard members and other troops and their families at Pease Air Force Base in this port town. They responded with rousing cheers.

Speaking six months after American forces seized control of downtown Baghdad, Bush vigorously defended his decision to intervene in Iraq, adopting a combative tone against those who questioned the wisdom of having gone to war.

“I was not about to leave the security of the American people in the hands of a madman,” Bush said. “I was not about to stand by and wait and trust in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein.”

Presidential politics were clearly on Bush’s mind as he spoke at the air base and then delivered a nearly identical speech to about 600 business and community leaders in Manchester, N.H.

Although New Hampshire is a staunchly Republican state, Bush won it by only a narrow margin in 2000. Its January primary date -- second only to the Iowa caucuses on the presidential calendar -- has brought Democratic candidates to the state, where they condemn the president and his policies.

“It seems like Manchester is a popular destination place these days -- and not just because the leaves are changing,” Bush said.

In one sign of the political nature of his visit, Bush halted his motorcade at Caezario’s, a pizza parlor in downtown Manchester, and spent 10 minutes inside schmoozing with the patrons.

When asked if he was already campaigning, Bush deadpanned, “No, I’m going to sit down and have a slice of pizza.”

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush took a slice of cheese pizza with him and lunched in his limousine.

In his remarks to community leaders, Bush spoke with vigor, using a revamped stump speech that mixed well-worn applause lines with new, more forceful language -- especially on Iraq.

“Wars are won on the offensive,” Bush said. “And our friends and America are staying on the offensive.”

The president provided a list of American achievements in Iraq: schools rebuilt, hospitals reopened, children immunized, water and electricity restored.

“It’s a lot better than you probably think,” he said. “Just ask people who have been there. They’re stunned when they come back.”

Bush said that last week’s report by weapons inspector David Kay confirmed what his administration has consistently claimed -- “that Saddam Hussein was a deceiver and a danger.”

“Since the liberation of Iraq, our investigators have found evidence of a clandestine network of biological laboratories,” Bush said. “They found advanced design work on prohibited longer-range missiles. They found an elaborate campaign to hide these illegal programs.”

Critics have accused Bush and his administration of exaggerating the danger posed by Iraq’s weapons programs, and most saw Kay’s report as upholding that view.

The Iraq passages in Bush’s speech were part of a White House campaign to counteract a slide in public confidence over the occupation and rebuilding effort. In recent weeks, as reports of U.S. casualties have mounted, polls have indicated that many Americans are increasingly concerned about the human and financial costs.

The president also has gotten low marks from the public on the economy -- a subject he sandwiched between discussions of Iraq.

“I understand that here in New Hampshire, one out of every five jobs have been lost in the manufacturing sector,” Bush said in Portsmouth, outlining policies he said would help create jobs. “That’s an issue we must deal with. We must act boldly from this point forward to create jobs for America.”

He said that his tax cuts were easing the strain on small businesses, which would soon resume hiring.

“Our strategy has set the stage for sustained growth,” Bush asserted. “By reducing taxes, we kept a promise, and we did the right thing at the right time for the American economy.”

The president also responded for the first time to calls from some Democrats to rescind the tax cuts for the highest earners to help pay for the war.

“Just as our economy is coming around, some are saying now is the time to raise taxes,” Bush said. “To be fair, they think any time is a good time to raise taxes. At least they’re consistent,” he said to laughter at the Manchester luncheon. “But I strongly disagree. A nation cannot tax its way to growth or job creation.”

The focus of both speeches was the continuing danger and challenge in Iraq: “Sept. 11, 2001, moved our country to grief, and moved our country to action,” the president said. “This is a new kind of war, and America is following a new strategy. We’re not waiting for further attacks. We’re striking our enemies before they can strike us again.”

Bush ended by urging fortitude on both the economic and national security fronts.

“If we’re patient and united and determined, this nation will not only prosper, the nation will be secure as we prevail in the war against terror,” he said.

Chief Petty Officer Newton Strickland, who serves with a Coast Guard unit in Newcastle, Maine, brought his wife and three children to the Portsmouth event. He had spent four months this summer deployed offshore on expanded patrols.

When asked if the president sounded like a candidate, Strickland replied: “He sounds more like the commander in chief. Did it inspire? I think so. Did it say thank you? I think so.”

Bush ended the day in Lexington, Ky., where he attended a fund-raiser for Republican Rep. Ernie Fletcher, who is running for governor.